Hardly had Brigadier Rabbani and his delegation crossed overto their country, driving through the Indian border post of Dawki, in Meghalaya,when men of the BDR and the BSF were locked in a gunbattle near the BSF post ofLabourpota, in Southern Assam’s Cachar district. "There was a 15-minuteexchange of fire between the BSF and the BDR on the evening of August 31, butthere were no casualties," Cachar District Magistrate Gautam Ganguly told thiswriter. A BSF official in the area, close to the border, disclosed that his menopened fire after a group of Bangladeshi farmers sneaked in and tried to harvestpaddy, ignoring warnings from the soldiers to leave the area which ‘belongs toIndia.’ The action by the Indian border guards invited a volley of gunfirefrom the BDR men posted across the border. It was the third time in August 2006alone that the BSF and the BDR were engaged in firing at each other, the lastbeing on August 10 when two women, both civilians, were killed on the Indianside after being hit by 82 mm mortar shells used by the BDR men.